I recently linked my title company at the bottom right of the IDX Details page. Is there any negative effect for doing this? I have noticed that no one has done this and there may be a good reason. At least from what I have seen.

I am having a little trouble deciding the format of my neighborhood pages.

I want to follow the format given here:http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/...sen/7777/show/my problem is that I really like the featured communities snippet but the way we have it just takes up too much space and the homes are just too far down the page. (I tried to fix that with an anchor link but I still don't think it's as effective as it can be)

Here is an example of that: http://www.tomcrimminsrealty.com/clo...eal-estate.php (We plan to have more textual content very soon so don't mind that - just imagine there's 4-6 paragraphs.)

I don't want to but I may have to get rid of the map and put in less pictures in the featured communities snippet or just have it at the bottom of the page or remove it altogether.

It looks like my home page also has a enjoyparkcity dot com/index.php version. Is that going to cause me a duplicate content issue of my homepage? Should it be redirected? Can I even do that on my own?

Hi - I don't post here often, but when I have an issue related to SEO, I always drop in. So, you can ignore me if post frequency is important to you, but I think this is an interesting question. Maybe I'm the last one to figure this out, but it sure surprised me.

Virtually all of the results on the first page of Google are portals or big box brokerage sites. The only place an individual's listing showed was in the Google map listings. The bulleted items are small towns around the major one. Even the really small town first pages were without individual real estate sites. The only place I found a good number of individual listings was for neighborhoods/communities within a town. Egaad.

I also searched: Phoenix AZ homes for saleTraditionally, that has had a lot of strong individual sites clogging the first page of results. Now, Matt Pellerin is #7, but he's been on the Internet forever. And, PhoenixRealEstateGuy is on page 4, tho since he's with Zillow now, maybe he isn't keeping the SEO up on his site.

Do you think this indicates that real estate sites should be doing more PPC than SEO? And, any SEO that is done should be focused on getting good rankings in Google Places or whatever they're calling it now? Are a lot of you here on the forum ranking for short or long-tail city terms?

Link Baiting is one of the easiest ways to get backlinks for free. Just publish high quality content on your blog which helps to solve the reader's problem and contain useful information. This process is helping for real estate categories.If Yes then explain the process.

Image Sales in 20 key cities across the UK fell by 2% in the last 12 months but prices have continued to rise, up 10.2% from a year ago, the latest price index shows.

London has seen a 7% fall in transactions while Cambridge has seen sales fall by 20%, according to the UK cities house price index from Hometrack.

Overall city level house price inflation has increased from 8.6% a year ago largely due to constricted supply. The average UK city house price currently stands at £231,700 ranging from £109,000 in Glasgow to £455,000 across London.

However, there are signs that the annual rate of growth in high growth cities in southern England is starting to plateau as the level of housing sales slows and affordability pressures on would-be buyers increase.

The report suggest that uncertainty around the forthcoming European Union referendum is likely to slow activity further. Questions remain as to the level to which the campaign will influence households' decision making and overall levels of housing market activity.

The Brexit referendum comes at a time when other policy measures such as higher stamp duty for investors and second home owners are expected to impact market activity from investors who accounted for one in five sales in 2015.

'Slower growth in sales volumes has been a trend seen over the last three years across the high value, high growth cities such as Cambridge, Oxford, Aberdeen and London where house prices have been rising for six consecutive years,' said Richard Donnell, Insight Director at Hometrack.

'High housing and moving costs are limiting access to the market for a growing number of households which, in our view, will result in lower turnover and slower house price growth,' he added.

He believes that the EU referendum adds further complexity to an already complex outlook. 'Our analysis shows that the Scottish referendum, and the 18 month campaign that preceded it, resulted in 10% fewer transactions and slower house price growth over the period relative to England,' said Donnell.

'The shorter run up to the EU vote will help but the true impact will depend on how quickly the campaigning focuses on the economic ramifications for UK households and the knock on effect for housing related decisions as Scotland proved. A vote to remain in the EU should see a return to business as usual whereas a vote to leave will create additional uncertainty,' he explained.

'After a three year upturn in housing market activity and house prices the outlook for the market appears increasingly tied up with policy impacts and the potential outcome of the referendum rather than the operation of market forces. Businesses operating in housing face risk and uncertainty which will have to be managed and monitored carefully,' he added.

Image British people looking to buy a property in France this year are being urged not to worry about the vote on the UK staying in the European Union due to take place in June.

There have been scare stories about what might happen if the UK leave the EU bit according to agents in France very little is likely to change. Indeed, they are reporting an uptick in inquiries which suggests that in reality potential buyers are not worried.

According to Trevor Leggett, chairman of Leggett Immobilier which has agents across France, there has been no slowdown in demand from UK purchasers and activity is 40% higher than 12 months ago which was a record year.

'Our view is that even if the vote was to leave the EU there would be little in the way of substantial change. The polls suggest it will be tight but tipped towards an In vote,' said Leggett.

According to Sextant French property even if the public vote to leave the EU nothing would happen suddenly. There would be a period of negotiations over benefits, pensions and healthcare which might affect expats but not necessarily second home owners.

The firm has just reported a record year with an estimated 800,000 sales made in 2015, and buyers are making the most of current market conditions which include favourable exchange rates, low mortgage rates and low prices.

'A Brexit would not stop you from buying your dream house across the Channel. Nany non-EU buyers from as far flung destinations as Australia and China already buy in France undeterred. The Brexit uncertainties lie largely in tax arrangements, obtaining mortgages and the potential weakening of the pound,' said a Sextant spokesman.

'Tax arrangements will depend on negotiations in the grace period following the referendum, though happily double taxation agreements will remain unchanged, ensuring you will never be taxed twice on your income,' he explained.

'In the short term run up to the referendum certainly, the pound could drop as uncertainty and instability will always disturb the markets to some extent. Once an outcome has been reached, we can hope that the markets have enough confidence to begin to level out,' he added.

For British people living in France there may not be much change. If the UK votes to leave it is highly likely that it will become a member of the European Economic Area (EEA). Iceland and Norway are already members.

EEA membership could also result in retention of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) card and thus access to healthcare at the same rate as currently. The UK has never been part of the Schengen agreement of totally free border control so nothing would change.

'Whichever way the UK votes, at Sextant we don't believe British interest in buying French property will be dampened, nor do we believe that the dream will become unattainable or unviable,' he concluded.

Image The supply of available housing in the UK is at its lowest level in 14 years with buy to let landlords rushing to complete ahead of tax change, new research shows.

Property investors are trying to avoid the additional 3% stamp duty charge on buy to let and second homes from 01 April, according to the report from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) but sales to first time buyers are also up.

The January Housing Market report shows that the number of properties available per member branch fell to 33 in January, the lowest recorded since December 2002 when just 25 properties were available per member branch.

In contrast, demand for housing soared in January, with an average 453 house hunters registered per branch, the highest recorded since July 2015 and a 21% increase from December when there were an average 374 registered, during a seasonal lull in activity.

This reflects increased activity from landlords pushing to complete sales ahead of the upcoming buy to let stamp duty surcharge, the report suggests. Indeed, 72% of estate agents reported an increase in interest from landlords, a rise from 44% in December.

Almost a third, 29%, of the total sales made in January were to first time buyers, an increase of 5% from December 2015, the report also shows.

'Our findings this month reflect what we are all seeing across the market which is that landlords are trying to complete on sales ahead of the changes to stamp duty on additional homes in April. It continues to be a sellers' market as demand outstrips supply,' said Mark Hayward, NAEA managing director.

'The number of sales made to firs time buyers has increased this month, and we should expect to see their market share rise after April. The fact that housing supply has reached a 14 year low really highlights the need for the government to push the house building programme to the very top of their agenda and help more first time buyers make their first step on to the housing ladder,' he added.

Image The number of loan approvals for house purchase in the UK increased by 22% in January with the month seeing the highest number of total approvals since the beginning of 2014.

The data from the Bank of England also shows that the number of remortgage approvals increased by 33% year on year.

A breakdown of the data shows that purchase approvals reached 74,581 in January compared to the average of 70,221 over the previous six months while those for remortgaging was 42,228, compared to the average of 40,306 over the previous six months.

According Peter Williams, executive director of the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association, the threat of a rate rise is no longer driving the remortgaging uplift and instead it is being supported by home owners looking to improve their financial situation through cheaper monthly repayments.

'In particular, landlords are preparing for fewer tax reliefs like the loss of the wear and tear allowance and restriction of mortgage interest deductability. Accessing cheaper deals through remortgaging will help offset these when they come into place,' he said.

'With rising home owner equity and a range of competitive deals in the market, home owners have also been determined to capitalise on currently low rates and intense market competition amongst lenders,' he explained.

He also pointed out that the stability in lenders' mortgage funding continues to improve. 'While the government and the Bank of England have supported funding the market, an increase in retail deposits over mortgage balances is underpinning improved mortgage lending, with the savings inflow exceeding that lending by £215 billion or 17% in the last quarter of 2015,' he added.

Adrian Gill, director of Reeds Rains and Your Move estate agents, believes it signals a strong spring buying season ahead. 'Interest rates aren't going anywhere fast and while cheaper mortgage deals stick around, buyer demand is chomping at the bit. With all the various government initiatives now in place, many first time buyers consider this their best shot at making the finishing line and purchasing their own home and they are upping the ante to make sure they don't miss out,' he said.

But in reality, he pointed out that the market currently favours sellers. 'Those looking to put their home on the market haven't been in such a strong position since before the recession. House price growth is gaining strength on both an annual and monthly basis, and with an army of eager first time buyers it's a brilliant time for existing home owners to be advancing up the property ladder. Ultimately, activity levels won't be able to keep up the pace unless there's a steady stream of homes for sale entering the ring,' he added.

But Martin Stewart, managing director of the independent mortgage broker, said that the forthcoming referendum on the UK as a member of the European Union could slow the market.

'The beginning of 2016 has been far busier than usual in the mortgage market, but between now and June activity is likely to slow as the possibility of Brexit makes people more cautious. Growing concerns around the UK economy will only temper demand further,' he explained.

'The buoyant Spring period could be far more subdued than usual in 2016. While buy to let may drive activity for another month or so, the worry is that many amateur landlords still haven't quite understood the full impact of reduced mortgage interest tax relief. It seems many will learn the hard way,' he pointed out.

He also warned that the increase in the number of first time buyers was tangible in 2015 and this has been no different in the first two months of 2016 and believes that there is an increasingly blasé approach to interest rate rises that could come back to bite many people.